Ashes 1.4: A Rare Captain's Knock
- What a day for England... from thinking of a draw as a win, they must now wish they had scored a tad faster and been in a position to force a win
- It was the kind of opening partnership that usually ignites the "save test cricket from subcontinental pitches" movement. This one by Strauss and Cook came in the 3rd innings in fightback. This calls for questioning the skills of the Australian bowlers and sanity of selectoral decision makers In recent times 3rd innings of test matches in the subcontinent have been tricky for the batters. They usually throw open a game in stalemate. This one effectively killed any hope of a decision by knockout. Yet ESPN cricinfo curiously think Strauss and Cook Reignite Contest. Perhaps they meant "contest" as in not this test but the entire series. Or may be they have a thing for draws
- Strauss's counter attacking innings reminded me of Saurav Ganguly's century at the same venue in 2003. It set the tone for the series and any talk of "targeting" the opposition captain was resigned to the dustbin. The last time a visiting English skipper scored a 100 in the 3rd innings of an Ashes Test match, they ended up winning the test match. It was 115 years ago though. Gooch scored one in 1991 saving a test match in the 4th innings.
- For Australia, they must think they are still in the game. If they can remove England by mid-day they can have a go at the total.Seems quite outrageous but that's what McGrath, Warne and Hayden did for a living.
